Quzi ( ar, قوزي), also spelled as qoozi or ghoozi, is a rice-based dish popular and is considered as one of Iraq's national dishes. It is served with very slowly cooked

lamb Lamb or The Lamb may refer to: * A young sheep * Lamb and mutton, the meat of sheep Arts and media Film, television, and theatre * ''The Lamb'' (1915 film), a silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in his screen debut * ''The Lamb'' (1918 ...

, roasted nuts, and raisins served over rice.Whole Roasted Lamb (Qoozi)
in Maryam's Culinary Wonders The dish was introduced into

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

by Syrian immigrants. The dish can also be found in some Arab states of the Persian Gulf.

Etymology

The Arabic word quzi قوزي comes from

Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish ( ota, لِسانِ عُثمانى, Lisân-ı Osmânî, ; tr, Osmanlı Türkçesi) was the standardized register of the Turkish language used by the citizens of the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extens ...

kuzı قوزی meaning 'lamb'.Quozi: an Iraqi lamb recipe from chef Philip Juma
''Evening Standard'', 24 December 2015

Variations

Iraqi cuisine Iraqi cuisine (Arabic: المطبخ العراقي Kurdish: خواردنی عێراقی) or Mesopotamian cuisine is a Middle Eastern cuisine that has its origins from Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians and the other groups of the regi ...

, it is usually prepared by stuffing a whole lamb with rice, vegetables, spices and nuts and slow-cooking it over a closed or submerged oven. In some places in the Middle East it is buried in a pit containing burning coal or charcoal to get the smoky flavor. There are many variations to this technique such as in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Ara ...

and

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast and ...

, where it is called ''madfoon'', cooked by being wrapped in aluminium foil and kept on an open heat source. In

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...

and UAE it is called ''shuwaa'' and is traditionally eaten on festive occasions, prepared by wrapping the marinated meat in date palm leaves and placing the wrapped meat in a submerged oven. In

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

, and

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

it is known as ''zarb''; the meat is portioned into smaller pieces and kept along with vegetables and bread dough so that the flavors are enhanced. Another variant is called '' haneeth'' where it is cooked inside a hot ''tabun''; this variation can be found in most Middle Eastern countries as well as the Horn of Africa and North Africa.

References

{{reflist Iraqi cuisine Emirati cuisine Jordanian cuisine Lamb dishes Levantine cuisine Omani cuisine Rice dishes Saudi Arabian cuisine Syrian cuisine Turkish cuisine Yemeni cuisine

Etymology

Variations

See also

References